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Tuesday, 14 February 2017

GUEST BLOG: Is there anything more important than traveller wellbeing?

We don’t think so.

Legislation around corporate
liability for duty of care negligence coupled with the growing global threat
means that companies must have robust policies and procedures in place to
mitigate risk for travellers.At all the
business travel conferences last year, one topic prevailed: how to diminish
risk for travellers. It’s not surprising when you consider that even
traditionally low-risk countries are now on high alert as a result of
terrorism.It means that a business
traveller to a major European country or on a domestic trip is just as
vulnerable as an oil worker in Nigeria. Terrorist attacks have become
indiscriminate.

Travel management companies need to
know where travellers are, they need to be able to communicate with them, and
re-arrange travel if necessary.That was
reinforced by the Iceland ash cloud in 2010. Many
corporates were sent into panic by not knowing the location of their travellers
or the ramifications of closed airspace.

The first line of defence is an around-the-clock
service from your TMC so that help is at hand when travel is disrupted.A travel tracking system, pinpointing any
vulnerable employees in the affected destination, is also a must-have.International SOS and The Federation of
European Risk Management Associations jointly undertook research into European
trends in risk management, highlighting that companies seldom implement
measures such as traveller tracking and pre-departure training. They only do
this in reaction to a serious incident or a “near miss”, but a key strategy
should be preventative measures.

A risk management policy should
augment any travel policy, covering all eventualities and tackling each of the
three stages of any traveller’s journey: pre travel, during travel, and post
travel.This policy must then be clearly
communicated to each traveller and signed so the employer has evidence the
traveller has read and understood this.

Pre Travel

Any judge contemplating whether
there is a case will be looking for an audit trail of checks on risk
intelligence shared with employees. This begins with arming your traveller with
destination-specific advice.This
includes information such as country profile and risk assessments of the destination;
no-go areas; which taxi firm to use from airport to downtown; road safety
information; safety for lone travellers; any security advice to maintain
confidentiality of company data whilst abroad; vaccinations; and key emergency
contact numbers.

This is where a TMC comes into its
own – we are the vital connection between the traveller and their organisation;
tracking travellers, providing expert destination advice, and proactively
mitigate the risk.

During Travel

If any health and safety incident
should occur, the traveller should be well aware of the company policy and
procedures to follow. The traveller tracking system will isolate any at-risk
travellers and send SMS texts to advise of new travel plans and vital safety
information.Corporates can also partner
with third parties to provide cover for remote medical assistance and
repatriation, which is essential for oil, gas, energy and marine clients.

Post Travel

A debrief is essential to learn
from the traveller about their travel experience and make policy revisions if
necessary.It’s important that your
crisis management plan is tested regularly and benchmarked against your peers
and best practice – it is a dynamic, evolving process.

An important point to note at each
stage is that regular business travellers can become complacent over time.Organisations must be aware of this and put
measures in place to ensure vital safety information is communicated to
frequent flyers in an engaging manner, protecting both the traveller and the
business.